What’s better than a cozy bowl of loaded potato soup in the winter time?
Not much.
EXCEPT a potato chowder that uses both white AND sweet potatoes, is loaded with smoky bacon flavor, and then topped off like a loaded baked potato!
Yes.
That is what we have here today. It’s happening. Buckle up, friends. We’re headed straight into crazy cozy town.
While I feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel right now in so many ways for so many things, I am still into the idea of hunkering down for a few more weeks before it’s officially spring. I am one of the few people who actually enjoys wintertime. I love the coziness of it all. The bundling up. The inherent downtime.
And that means eating lots of cozy meals like this soup. Soup is something I eat all the time, but I know that’s not how everyone does things, so I think this might be the last soup recipe for a while. We’ll see!
This chowder is so hearty and so flavorful. It’s like eating a warm hug. A warm potato hug.
It starts out how most good things start: with bacon. And lots of it! We want the bacon drippings to be the base flavor here. It adds an incredible smokiness and, well, porky flavor! Which is so great with potatoes in any form. We also want to use the bacon as a serving garnish.
Because when all is said and done, we’re treating this like a loaded baked potato! Topped off with yogurt (or sour cream), shredded cheese, scallions, chives, and the crispy BACON! I cannot recommend this enough.
Yes, the chowder on its own is fabulous in its own right, but I am alllll about those toppings! Just like I would be with a regular loaded baked potato.
Anywho. After we get the bacon to do its job in the pot, we sauté some veggies until soft in the drippings, add in some warming and smoky spices, and then get the potatoes going.
Now, anytime you’re cooking potatoes, it will take a little time. Don’t rush it. We want the potatoes to soften up quite a bit. Not until they are completely mushy, because we want chunky texture in a chowder, but until they are super tender and easily mashed up a bit.
The combination of the regular and sweet potatoes here is a dream. The sweet potato, as you might guess, adds a touch of sweetness to things. Which is wonderful as everything else is high on the savory scale. It adds a nice counterpoint to the salty-savory-porky flavors.
Plus, sweet potatoes are so amazingly good for you. They’re a great thing to add to soups and stews in general. Only two out of the four of us in this household actually like sweet potatoes, but when I add them into meals like this, everyone is more likely to enjoy them. I call that a huge win.
The resulting soup is a touch creamy, a ton hearty, and filled with savory and smoky flavors. It really is like eating a hug!
This is the sort of meal I could eat any evening and feel completely comforted and satisfied. It makes a big pot of soup, too, so it’s great for meal prep or for freezing for a later time.
I will miss you, soup season. I’m equal parts sad to see you go and thrilled that it’s warming up enough to actually be outside!
Let’s hope that light at the end of the tunnel gets closer and closer faster than we think! In the meantime, I’ll be soaking up the last of the cozy meals like this one!
Print
Smoky Loaded Double Potato Chowder
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This Smoky Loaded Double Potato Chowder is hearty, savory, made with two types of potatoes, and lots of bacon. It is creamy and cozy, a teensy bit sweet from the sweet potatoes, and is best served like a loaded baked potato with all the toppings!
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 stalks of celery, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced (roughly 1½ cups)
- 4 medium Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes, diced (roughly 2½ cups)
- 1 cup half-and-half
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional Toppings:
- The crisped bacon
- Grated sharp cheddar cheese
- Chopped scallions or chives (or both!)
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, crisp the bacon over medium heat. Once crisp, remove it from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
- To the bacon grease in the pan, add the onion and celery. Cook for 5 minutes and then add in the garlic, spices, and pinch of salt. Cook for another minute.
- Stir in the flour until it has coated all the vegetables and cook for another 1-2 minutes (you want to cook out that raw flour taste).
- Slowly stream in the broth, stirring constantly to pick up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Bring the broth to a simmer and then add in the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
- Simmer the soup, partially covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the potatoes are fall-apart tender and the broth is slightly thickened.
- Using an immersion blender, blitz the chowder a bit to break up some of the potatoes, but don’t go overboard! We want this to be chunky and hearty. We like big chunks of potatoes here. You can also use a traditional blender – put roughly 1-2 cups of the chowder into the blender and blend until smooth. Stir this back into the pot of chowder.
- Stir in the half-and-half and season, to taste, with more salt and pepper. Be warned that you’ll likely need to add quite a bit of salt – potatoes require a lot of seasoning!
- Stir half the crisped bacon into the chowder, reserving the other half for serving.
To Serve:
Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish however you prefer.
We like to eat this like a loaded baked potato. We top ours with some of the cooked bacon, some grated cheddar, a dollop of Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and lots of fresh scallions and chives.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: soup
Hi There. I'm Molly. I'm a food-obsessed, self-taught cook and I can't wait to share my passion for all things culinary with you. My love for egg yolks is just the tip of the iceberg!
I love that you use sweet potatoes in this soup, great set of ingredients and a nice new soup for me befitting my new-found soup cravings, thank you!
Yes, love the sweet potatoes here! Thanks, Sabrina!
Hi Molly, I found you via Pinterest. Great site!
What a tasty looking soup! Loaded potato stew.. with smoked bacon yum! And Greek yogurt is a great twist! It’s not winter now but I love comfort food all year around.
I also love you plating. Beautiful photos with those rustic bowls. Thank you!
Thanks, Haemi!